Moving to Brookline, Massachusetts

About Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline

Brookline ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Allston, Fenway–Kenmore, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury. The city of Newton borders Brookline to the west. It is known for being the birthplace of John F. Kennedy.

The land which comprises what is today Brookline was first settled in 1638 as a hamlet in Boston, known as Muddy River (as it was settled on the west side of the river of the same name). It was incorporated as a separate town with the name of Brookline in 1705. In 1873, Brookline had a contentious referendum in which it voted to remain independent from Boston. The later annexations of Brighton and West Roxbury, both in 1874, and that of Hyde Park in 1912, eventually made Brookline into an exclave of Norfolk County. The town has a history of racial discrimination in zoning, which has led to a disproportionately wealthy population and a very low percentage of Black residents, at only 2.5%.

Several streets and railroads were laid out in the town in the 19th century. Today, these are Massachusetts Route 9 (locally Boylston St., which cuts the town in two) and the various branches of the MBTA's Green Line. To the north of Route 9, the area is fairly urban; the southern part is much less so.

At the time of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 63,191. It has been the most populous municipality in Massachusetts to have a town (rather than city) form of government since Framingham changed to a city in 2018, following a 2017 referendum.

Gender
Gender Brookline Massachusetts Country
Female 53.2% 51.5% 50.8%
Male 46.8% 48.5% 49.2%
Gender
Created with Raphaël 2.2.053%47%Female53.2%

 Female Male
Household Income
Created with Raphaël 2.2.06%5%3%4%6%11%9%18%11%28%$200K or more27.7%

 < $10000 $10K to $15K $15K to $25K $25K to $35K $35K to $50K $50K to $75K $75K to $100K $100K to $150K $150K to $200K $200K or more

Income Brookline Massachusetts Country
Less than $10,000 5.9% 5% 5.8%
$10,000 to $14,999 4.8% 4.1% 4.1%
$15,000 to $24,999 2.7% 6.8% 8.5%
$25,000 to $34,999 3.5% 6.4% 8.6%
$35,000 to $49,999 6.3% 9% 12.0%
$50,000 to $74,999 10.7% 13.9% 17.2%
$75,000 to $99,999 9.4% 12% 12.8%
$100,000 to $149,999 18.1% 18% 15.6%
$150,000 to $199,999 10.8% 10.6% 7.1%
$200,000 or more 27.7% 14.2% 8.3%
Education
Created with Raphaël 2.2.02%1%6%5%2%29%26%12%17%Bachelor Degree29%

 < 9th Grade 9-12th Grade High School or GED Other College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Masters Degree Professional Degree Doctorate Degree

Education Brookline Massachusetts Country
< 9th Grade 2% 3% 5.0%
9-12th Grade 1% 5% 7.0%
High School or GED 6% 24% 27.0%
Other College 5% 15% 20.0%
Associate's Degree 2% 8% 9%
Bachelor's Degree 29% 25% 20.0%
Master's Degree 26% 14% 9.0%
Professional Degree 12% 3% 2.0%
Doctorate Degree 17% 3% 1.0%
Household Income
 Brookline Massachusetts  Country
Created with Raphaël 2.2.007.51522.530>$200K$150K$200K$100K$150K$75K$100K$50K$75K$35K$50K$25K$35K$15K$25K$10K$15K<$10K5.955.84.84.14.12.76.88.53.56.48.66.391210.713.917.29.41212.818.11815.610.810.67.127.714.28.3
Education
 Brookline Massachusetts  Country
Created with Raphaël 2.2.007.51522.530Dr.DegreeProf.DegreeMastersDegreeBachelorDegreeAssociateDegreeOtherCollegeHighSchool9-12thGrade< 9thGrade23515762427515202892925202614912321731
Race / Ethnicity
Created with Raphaël 2.2.067%3%0%17%7%0%6%0%White66.8%

 White African American American Indian Asian Hispanic Hawaiian Mixed Other

Ethnicity Brookline Massachusetts Country
White 66.8% 70.8% 60.1%
African American 2.8% 6.8% 12.2%
American Indian 0% 0.1% 0.6%
Asian 17.4% 6.7% 5.6%
Hawaiian 0% 0% 0.2%
Other 0.2% 0.8% 0.3%
Multiracial 6% 2.7% 2.8%
Hispanic 6.7% 12% 18.2%
Race / Ethnicity
 Brookline Massachusetts  Country
Created with Raphaël 2.2.0020406080Hispanic2 or More$OthersHawaiianAsianAmericanIndianAfricanAmericanWhite66.870.860.12.86.812.200.10.617.46.75.6000.20.20.80.362.72.86.71218.2